Centon One Series: The Law of Survival
by Punk Drunk Love
Summary: John has become more and more attached to Randy Orton in recent years, but John must put his romantic desires for Randy aside when the two are taken hostage by an alien race who captures warriors from planets all over the universe to pit them against each other in epic battles to the death.


Author's Note: This is a one-shot Centon story that I wrote a couple of years ago based on a dream. Some of the material was inspired by an original story I wrote that is still posted on Fictionpress called Archer's Glow. It runs along the vein of the song "Scream" by Michael and Janet Jackson. I don't claim to own any rights to WWE or its affiliates. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

**Amber Sunrise**

One of the best moments of my life: Kissing A.J. Lee after my match with Dolph Ziggler.

"John," she whispered, laughing as I held the ropes to let her out of the ring.

She was blushing by the time we got to the top of the ramp. April and I had been friends since she began her contract with WWE. I've always liked her in-ring style and she's one of the most down to earth of the Divas. Neither of us expected Vince to start a storyline about April and I being a potential couple, but so far, the fans were loving it.

Backstage, the rest of the roster was mixed. Some of the girls were jealous of the constant attention April was getting, while some of the guys wanted a chance to suck face with her. She and I were cool enough with each other that it worked, but I also knew the story wouldn't last long, since good couplings always end sour in the wrestling business.

We were met with hoots and hollers once we were past the curtain. April hid her face in her hands and I argued with the swarm of guys to make a hole so I could get her on by. Their teasing was all in good fun, but I could tell April was getting kind of bothered by it.

McIntyre launched a cat-call whistle April's way, and that was followed with a few grunts and more hollers from the guys. I put my hand on the small of April's back and tried to direct her towards the Diva's locker room as I glanced back to see if Randy was with the other guys.

He wasn't. I was kind of surprised, considering that he loved to give me a hard time when he had the chance.

"Sorry about that. The guys are just messing around is all," I reassured April once we got to the locker room.

She looked up at me and beamed. Her smile against her Latina skin tone appeared to me like an amber colored sunrise. It was beautiful.

"Thank you, John," she turned away and I opened the door for her.

She was small enough to easily pass underneath my arm. I waited until she had disappeared past the cinder block wall to the main part of the locker room, then I listened a moment longer to make sure nobody was in there teasing her before I closed the door.

I was covered in sweat and I smelled to high heaven. I felt kind of guilty that April had to endure it just to sneak a kiss from me in the ring. It was probably the reason why girls didn't hang out with us guys much after a match.

As soon as I opened the guy's locker room door, I caught a whiff of steam from the shower, but I couldn't hear it running. I thought it was odd, considering that anyone competing in a match tonight was already dressed out and ready by the stage.

I turned off before the showers and went to the very back to check my locker. I took my cell phone out of my gym bag and checked it:

36 UNREAD MESSAGES FROM: ELIZABETH CENA

_I knew she was gonna be pissed after watching me make out with A.J. Lee live on RAW._

Ironically, Liz hardly ever watched the show in all the time we were together. She always said she didn't like thinking that any second I could get hurt. Now that we were in the midst of a divorce, she wanted to keep tabs on me...and every single microsecond I was in the vicinity of a woman.

_Maybe I should kiss Vickie Guerrero, again. That would get Liz going._

I shoved my cell phone back into my bag and grabbed a towel and some jeans and a t-shirt to change into. I went back to the showers and I was pleasantly surprised to find Randy sitting on the bench by the shower stalls texting away on his phone.

He was just in a towel, but he wasn't wet like he had just been in the shower. I cocked my head to one side and gave him a wry look, but he didn't even notice me.

_He must be talking to Sam & Alanna._

Alanna went to bed early, so Randy tried his best to send her a good-night text before she went down. His connection to her was the strongest one I'd ever seen between family members in the wrestling business. He always made sure that Alanna knew she was deeply loved.

"Hey," I startled him when he finally looked up and saw me.

"You in a match tonight?" I was confused as to why Randy was ready to shower so late.

He shook his head as he put his phone away and remarked bitterly, "Vince pulled me from the line-up."

Randy didn't elaborate, but my instincts told me it was injury-related. I grabbed a shower caddy with supplies from off the bench and went into one of the stalls to take a shower. Randy followed me and took the stall next to mine. There was a dividing wall between us, but it was only waist high. I was normally fine with that, but my history with Randy made it weird to have him so close, so wet, _and so naked._

We'd had a kind of on-and-off fling back in our OVW days. Randy and I hated each other, then, but it made for some furious moments of passion that broke a few windows, headboards, and could've easily gotten us fired, but thank God no one ever got wise to our antics. We were both bisexual and eventually fell in love with girls, but Randy and I stayed the best of friends and we never exactly told each other it was over between us.

Alanna and Sam were perfect for Randy, and I loved them all like family, but I couldn't help feeling a more constant need for Randy since my own marriage was quickly deteriorating. I needed something to ease the pressure, _and I knew he could give it to me._

"...got this thing on Friday night," Randy's voice brought me back to reality.

I glanced at him and realized I had drifted off into old memories while he was talking to me. He gave me a hard stare like what he was saying was important to him, and I felt like an ass for zoning out.

"Say what?" I stuck my pinky in my ear and turned it like getting water in it was the reason for my response delay.

Randy scoffed and argued, "You are a bad liar, John Cena."

"I didn't lie, I was just thinking about something else while you were talking!" I countered.

Randy gave me a curious glance and asked, "Oh yeah? What about?"

"Nothing," I mumbled.

Randy leaned over the wall and reached past me to grab the shampoo from my shower caddy. I moved to one side, but he still grazed my hip, and it felt deliberate. Randy stole the shampoo away and squirted it into his hands with this sinister look on his face like a child playing with fire. I shook my head at him and scoffed, "You are so fucking weird."

He easily rubbed the shampoo through his hair, then around his beard, remarking gruffly, "You know you like it."

I hated when he was right about shit like that. His expressions and some of the silly stuff he did was so lame, but completely hilarious, and I knew I'd be laughing about his shampoo stunt, later.

"So why did Vince really pull you from your match, tonight?" I asked him blatantly.

Randy gave me the Viper's stare and quickly turned his shower off. He started to leave and I reached out to stop him as I argued, "Hey, come on! Wait!"

I grabbed his right wrist and he howled in pain. He pulled away from me and cradled his wrist for a single vulnerable moment, then his entire demeanor changed and he went defensive again, saying violently, "Don't fucking mess with me, Cena!"

He went for his towel and dried off as fast as he could. He was already dressing to leave and I knew he'd be gone if I didn't say something good enough to stop him.

"You going to be in your room, tonight?" I asked softly.

Most of the time, we tried to get hotel rooms side-by-side, especially the ones with the dividing door so I could go into his room and he could go into mine without using the hallway. It was kind of for protection, in case one of us got mauled by some crazed fan so the other one could call the cops and come to the rescue, but the bigger reason was that I was always too busy to keep track of pop culture. Randy had a knack for knowing what I needed to see to stay updated. He also loved giving me the play-by-play, and I knew he wouldn't pass that up, even if he were pissed at me.

Randy looked down and I got the sudden impression my question inspired a different train of thought from him than I had intended. It took me a few seconds to realize he was staring at my crotch.

His eyes slowly drifted up to meet mine, and I swore he was staring at me like he wanted to kiss me.

"I'm going to a bar. I probably won't be back until after midnight," Randy stated gruffly.

I shrugged it off and countered quickly, "That's fine, I'll just rent something from Redbox and we'll watch it after you get back."

I knew Randy would be too shit-faced to know what the hell we were watching once he got back from the bar, but I thought the suggestion might give him incentive not to completely waste himself. My plan worked, and Randy said with a nod, "Yeah, you do that."

"What should I get?" I asked as he turned to walk away.

"Something with a disturbing title!" Randy called over his shoulder as he went out the door.

* * *

Sadly, there were not that many disturbing titles to choose from. Most of them were either too girly or kind of stupid, like a street name or a contagious disease.

I caught sight of Daniel Radcliffe and the movie art itself was disturbing enough for me. I rented The Lady in Black, but not because Randy and I loved scary movies. I just knew that Randy was afraid of anything to do with antiquities.

I went back to the hotel and camped out until Randy's return. My phone kept beeping, but I knew it was Liz, so I turned it off and watched some TV for a while. I left the lights out in my room and I must've fallen asleep at some point because I was startled awake when I heard a soft thud in Randy's room next door.

He made a grunt that echoed through the wall and I heard the creak of the bed as he collapsed into it. I got up and went through the dividing door, forgetting to turn the TV off in my room as I went into his.

Randy was face-down on the bed. I left the dividing door open so I could still see into my room as I grabbed the remote in Randy's room and turned his TV on. The light from my TV was casting a glow that went into Randy's room and it was actually kinda cool. I put the DVD in and launched into bed next to Randy, making it a point to bounce up and down a few times to wake him up.

He was snoring softly and totally ignored me. I sat up and noticed he hadn't taken his shoes off, so I sat up on my knees and started removing them. He started moaning when I took his shoes off, then I was going for his socks when he mumbled while still half-asleep, "Quit it, Sam, you can suck my toes, later!"

"What?!" I whispered to myself, trying desperately not to bust out laughing.

Randy lamely kicked me away from his feet and rolled over on his back. His eyes were open, but he was still too drunk to realize he wasn't dreaming. I decided to leave his socks on and laid back down beside him so I could watch the movie. Randy sputtered when he recognized my movie choice and retorted, "This movie is gonna suck."

"Why? Because it's not based in 1980 or later?" I joked.

"Shut up, the 80's sucked, too," Randy rolled over so he couldn't see the TV.

He slyly put his arm underneath my t-shirt and spread his fingers over my chest. He teased my left nipple and chuckled before asking, "Sam, where the hell did your tits go?"

"Shut the fuck up," I knew he was messing with me, so I tried to shove him away.

He wouldn't back off so I shot back, "I'm not Sam, you douche! I'm John Cena!"

"Ohhh, John," he moaned like hearing my name turned him on.

I tried to shove him away, again, but he reached down into my boxers and clutched my crotch in such a way that I was rendered completely helpless. I didn't want to move and hurt something..._well, frankly, I just didn't want to move._

He rubbed the heel of his hand against the underside of my cock and I couldn't help letting out a groan of pleasure. I doubted Randy had any clue what he was really doing and he would probably pretend this never happened when he woke up with a massive hangover the next morning, but by that point, I didn't really care.

Randy buried his head against my neck and brushed his lips along my jawline. I turned my head so I could guide his lips to mine, but he suddenly let go of my crotch and his body went limp beside me.

I thought he was just acting like he were passed out to mess with me some more. I elbowed him in the chest and argued, "What the fuck, Randy?!"

He opened his eyes just as I saw something glide across the dividing doorway out of the corner of my eye.

I immediately looked at the open door. The light from the TV was still casting a glow and I thought maybe I had just seen a trick of the light. I glanced back at Randy and asked, "Did you see that?"

He didn't respond, but his eyes were kind of glazed over in a way that made me uneasy. His lids drifted down until his eyes were closed again, but Randy seemed strangely silent, like he was in a deep state of sleep.

I hopped out of bed and went for the lamp on the bedside table. I picked it up and held it like a bat as I went to the wall beside the open dividing door and listened intently for any clues that someone might be in my room. I waited for a few seconds, but heard nothing beyond the sounds of the TVs in both Randy's room and mine.

_I couldn't bring myself to put the lamp down. I just knew something was wrong._

I took a moment to plot out my next move. The training I did for The Marine taught me how to move fluidly and take down a potential target, but the problem was figuring out _whom_ my target was. I was still debating what to do when I saw a hand reach around and clutch the frame of the doorway.

_But it wasn't a human hand. It was clawed and gray and resembled a tiger's paw._

I looked up as something stepped through the doorway. It was even taller than Big Show, so it had to lean way down to come in through the doorway, and it's skin was so dark, it was hard to see even with the light of both TVs on it. My mind was trying to piece together what it resembled, because it wasn't like any single thing I'd seen, before. The face of a tiger...no, a panther...but with eyes like a snake, and really sharp teeth...and something on its back...porcupine quills?

It turned to face me with wild eyes. I felt something inside of me stop.

_I think it was my heart._

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, I was somewhere new.

It resembled a townhouse. The walls were pure white and I could see a stainless steel kitchen off to one side. There weren't any dividing walls separating the different rooms, but it was more like a bunch of pieces put together in some kind of a modern studio apartment outfit.

I sat up in the bed I was in. I looked down and saw that I was wearing a fresh pair of clothes. They weren't mine, but they were the same brands and styles I usually bought. I spent a long time assessing the area around me. There was a lot of furniture that I would've liked in my own home and the kitchen appeared to be fully stocked. A few things were left out on the counter and they were all my favorite choices.

There was a flat screen TV bolted to the wall near my bed. It was up very high and at an angle that I assumed would be difficult to achieve. I saw a remote on the glass bedside table and I picked it up to look it over. The remote appeared to be a universal one, but it had a lot of extra buttons that I had never seen before. They were all coded and labeled. Some of the buttons said weird things like: _Memories. Stations. Environments._

I pressed the power button. The flat screen came on and I was surprised to see a baseball game in-progress.

_I was a huge sports fan, and it seemed like whoever brought me here knew that._

Being such a huge fan meant that I had seen a lot of games, and it only took me a few seconds to realize I had seen this game, before. It took me longer to remember exactly when, but the players allowed me to place it at about two years ago.

It wasn't completely unusual to have a re-run of a baseball game on, but this happened to be _one of my favorite games of all time_. Again, I felt a sense that it wasn't a coincidence.

I turned the TV off and cautiously stood up. The floor was sound and made of black onyx tiles, a theme I'd always favored but I never remembered telling anybody. I continued to step lightly, unsure if I were awake or perhaps in a very vivid dream state. I had heard of lucid dreaming, where you know you're dreaming during the fact, but I couldn't remember having one, before.

"Randy," I whispered to myself.

A quick scan of the area revealed he wasn't with me. I went to the kitchen first and opened the fridge to inspect the contents. Sure enough, it was stocked with all of my favorite choices, and even some I wasn't partial to but needed to sustain a healthy diet. Everything was packed like it was fresh, but I noticed that there was enough to feed me for at least a month, something that was not easy to achieve when supplying a professional wrestler who eats about 30 pounds of protein a week.

I checked all the cabinets for more clues. All stocked with supplies. I found a linen closet that was also stocked up and the bathroom just off from the kitchen was in perfect condition. Everything appeared brand new, untouched and well-stocked, yet something was off about it. I just couldn't quite figure out what was wrong, but it all seemed...too perfect.

There were no odd angles. No drops of paint from the job on the walls. No signs of construction anywhere. _If this place were built by human hands, something would've given it away._

I glanced past the kitchen and saw a door that was somewhat hidden by a cookie-cutter looking dividing wall. It was like the door was meant for me to find, but not obvious to anyone else who may enter the room. It also didn't look like the front door.

_It resembled the dividing door between the hotel rooms Randy and I got side-by-side._

The door could've led to danger, but my gut told me it was alright to open it. I slowly turned the knob and stepped aside so the door would kind of fall open and I could glance on the other side and see anyone before they saw me. I was shocked when I saw Randy on the other side, but he was in the middle of a room similar to mine sitting on a nice looking recliner chair...and his nose and ears were bleeding.

"Randy!" I screamed as I rushed over to help him.

At first glance, it looked like he was restrained somehow, but as I came closer, it was clear that he was not tied down, just clutching the arms of the chair. He had something over his nose and mouth that resembled an oxygen mask, but it was much more high tech and it wasn't tied to any tank. I thought maybe it were suffocating Randy, but I could hear him breathing through it just fine.

I couldn't understand how the mask was giving him any oxygen without a tank. I wanted to help him, but I didn't know how. I looked into Randy's eyes and asked him, "What happened?"

He looked up at me with a sense of calm, like he was not as concerned about his condition as I was. He didn't even seem to be in any kind of pain. I glanced around and saw that Randy's area resembled mine in some ways, but it was furnished and stocked with things that appeared to be according to his liking, all the way down to some framed photos of Alanna and Sam on the far wall.

I heard the toilet flush and someone came out of the bathroom past the kitchen. He looked almost exactly like Tyler Reks, but he was wearing a lab coat and he was walking with an odd limp, like someone trying to shake it off after their legs had fallen asleep.

"Who the hell are you?!" I immediately went hostile.

He stopped when he saw me. A flash of recognition went across his face, like he knew who I was and that he would run into me, but his expression became confused when he saw the anger on my face. He seemed both puzzled and curious, like he wasn't exactly reading my reaction correctly.

_Or like someone who had never seen another person react in anger, before._

"Mr. Cena, please, don't be alarmed. Mr. Orton will recover to perfect form, but his body simply didn't go through the depressurization process as well as yours did. My name is Doctor Roschach, by the way," he reached out to shake my hand.

I didn't dare shake his. I couldn't exactly reason out why, but his voice and the words he was putting together...it wasn't like a real voice. _It was like an imitation._

He took his hand away and didn't seem offended at all as he went on, "I believe Givian will be here soon to explain things more thoroughly. For now, you can rest assured that everything is alright, and no harm will come to you or Randal."

He nodded to Randy before adding with a short smile, "I was told that I should alter my appearance to resemble one of your roster members. Our research shows that humans adjust to our provided environments much more easily when subjected to familiarity, both in facial recognition and in object placement."

Roschach pointed to the framed photos on Randy's wall. I just stared at him like he might reveal that we were in the real-life version of _Hostel_.

He dropped his smile and remarked almost to himself, "Oh, I apologize. It seems from your reaction that you haven't been told exactly where you are, yet. Your_ familiars _would have told you that, but they must have not arrived just yet."

Something moved against the far wall, but before I could register if it were a door or some kind of an illusion, a woman stepped through the wall and greeted me with a smile as she came over to us.

_She looked exactly like Samantha Orton, but I knew she was an imposter._

It should've made me angry, but I couldn't bring myself to react negatively to her. She was wearing a white gossamer gown and she had a glow around her that made me feel calm in her presence. She put her hand on Randy's shoulder and smiled down at him. He looked up at her and his eyes widened with surprise, then his expression changed slightly like he too realized she was not Sam, yet he did not react in anger, either.

"Please know that you are both safe, here. We mean you no harm, we only want you to be a part of the _Universal Arena_ we have provided so that you may be in competitions for other worlds beyond your own to see," the woman explained with a tender smile.

Randy looked at me, and I stared back at him. Neither of us had any clue what was going on. Roschach pointed to the wall to my left and told the girl, "Maj, would you please open the window wall and allow the humans to see for themselves what we are referring to?"

She nodded kindly and went over to the wall. She placed her hand against what appeared to be a random place like the rest of the wall, but the white paint suddenly faded away and the wall itself became a see-through tinted shield that allowed Randy and I to see past what we thought was our reality.

We saw a large brown planet beyond the tinted shield. Several stars shone around the planet and a glowing ball resembling a sun shined from off to one side. It was like nothing I had ever seen, before. It was too realistic to be some kind of a graphic illusion. All of my reasoning left me as I began to consider the idea that we were _truly no longer on earth_.

"You are on a star ship riding through Gunatu, a sector of space that your planet refers to as the Pleiades Star System," Maj explained.

"John," Randy mumbled to me through his oxygen mask.

I looked back at him and he remarked dryly, "I don't think we're in fucking Kansas, anymore."


End file.
